Water closet seat and lift cover

ABSTRACT

A combination closet seat and center lift cover for use on the receptacle of a water closet. The closet seat has a center opening formed by legs on either side. Each leg is provided with a depression and a similar depression in the center lift cover provides a smooth continuous surface sitting area when the center lift cover is lowered. The center lift cover when raised includes an under surface having an offset portion forming a lumbar support and back rest for the user.

United States Patent 01% 51 Nov. 25, 1975 [541 WATER CLOSET SEAT ANDLIFT COVER 2.461.160 2/1949 Joyce 4/235 3,210,777 10/1965 Katoh 4/235[75] Inventor. Robert A. O Neil, Wheaton, 111. 3520005 7/1970 Downes H4/234 73 Assignee: Beneke Division, Beau-ice Foods Co" 3,786,522 H1974Kira et a1. 4/237 Columbus, Miss. Filed y 10 [974 Primary Examiner1-enry K. Artis [21] Appl' 461078 [57] ABSTRACT A combination closet seatand center lift cover for use 8% on the receptacle of a water closet.The closet seat has 4/234 242 a center opening formed by legs on eitherside. Each l 0 can leg is provided with a depression and a similardepression in the center lift cover provides a smooth eontin [56]Rflerences cued uous surface sitting area when the center lift cover isUNITED STATES PATENTS lowened. The center lift cover when raisedincludes an 548,367 10/1895 High 4/234 X under surface having an offsetportion forming a lum- 0.869 2/1935 Joyce bar support and back rest forthe user. 2,047,480 7/1936 MacDonald 1 2,111,044 3/1938 Crosby 4/234 27Claims, 7 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 SheetlofZ 3,921,235

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,921,235

WATER CLOSET SEAT AND LIFT COVER This invention relates generally tocloset receptacle seats and more particularly to closet seats having acenter lift cover.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The principal object of the present inventionis to provide a closed seat and center lift cover which form acontinuous cover over the closet receptacle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a closet seat andcover which form a smooth essentially continuous upper surface.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a closet seatcover which is comfortable to sit on when it is closed.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a center liftcover for a closet receptacle seat having an under surface that providesa contoured support for the user in the lumbar region of the back.

This invention also has an object the provision of a closet receptacleseat having a center lift cover shaped to fit into and be complementaryto the opening into the closet receptacle seat.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparentupon careful review of the following specification and claims, includingthe accompanying drawing.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment ofthe invention with the closet seat and lift cover in the raised positionof a water closet.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment with the liftcover in the raised position and the closet seat in the lowered positionillustrating the depression on each side adjacent the central openingand the back rest.

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the closet seat and lift cover inthe lowered position forming the closed sitting position.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the seat and cover in the lowered position ofFIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view partly broken away of the seat and cover inthe lowered position and a portion of the closet receptacle taken alongline 5-5 in FIG. 4 showing the closet seat hinge attached to the closet.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to that of FIG. 5 but with the liftcover raised to illustrate the back support provided by the undersurface of the lift cover.

FIG. 7 is an exploded fragmentary view of the present inventionillustrating the position of the hinges as attached to the seat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring in particular to FIGS.1,2 and 3, it may be seen that a preferred embodiment of this inventioncomprises a combination closet seat and lift cover assembly showngenerally at 10 that includes a seat 12 and a center lift cover I4.

As shown in FIGS. 4-7, the closet seat I2 is provided with seat hingesI6 in the form of a pair of elongated pins 17 axially aligned to passthrough conventional hinge posts I8 permitting pivotal movement. Therear of the seat 12 is notched out at 19 on both sides of the cover toreceive each hinge post 18 as best shown in 2 FIG. 7. The hinge posts I8are each held to the receptacle R by its respective bolt 20.

The closet seat I2 is preferably fabricated of a material such as woodwith a conventional stain resistant protective coating or is molded of aconventional plastic. The seat I2 as shown is bifurcated forming twolegs 22 and 24 each of which extend from a rearwardly positionedrecessed yolk 26 that houses and supports the hinges 16. The yolk isrecessed at 26 from the planar portion 28 to provide clearance for thetongue 29 to pivot about the hinge pins 17. The rear edge 30 of thetongue is beveled to further this purpose. Each of the legs 22 and 24 isessentially a mirror image of the other and is provided with a planarrear portion 28 which joins inwardly converging sides 31 having the formof a smooth curve as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. Each of the legsterminates in a smooth front edge 32. The underside 34 of the closetseat is flat and may be provided with conventional resilient bumpers 36on the underside of each leg and positioned to rest upon the upper rim Mof the receptacle R. To support the center left cover I4 above thesurface of the rim M of the receptacle R, inward protrusions 31 areprovided along the lower surface 34 of the seat.

As may be seen from FIG. 7, the yolk 26 of the closet seat is providedwith an angular or inclined surface 38 on each side of the cover I4 toprovide adequate clearance for the raising of the seat 12. Each surface38 is cut out at 39 to permit the installation of the pins 17 formingthe hinges 16.

The upper surface of the closet seat in addition to. the planar rearsurface 28 is provided with an outer planar intermediate portion 40 oneach leg which converges smoothly with a downwardly directed frontsurface 42 that slopes to meet the front edge 32.

One of the important aspects of the present invention is the formationon each leg of an essentially semicircu lar depression 44 which extendsfrom the yolk 26 forwardly alongside the planar intermediate surface 40to the downwardly sloping surface 42. The depression 44 on each of thelegs 22 and 24 are essentially mirror images of each other and areformed each with a downwardly and inwardly sloping surface at 46terminating in a relatively planar surface at 48. The depressions 44serve as contoured sitting areas during use of the closet seat.

The inner edge of the depression 44 is defined at 50 which is formedwith a concave central portion 52 between forward and rearwardlyprojecting portions 54 and 56 on either side of the concave centralportion 52 and forward opposed parallel edges 58 which extend beyond therim M to intersect along the sloping surface 42 and the front edge 32.The inner edge 50 including the concave central portion 52 forms acentral opening 60 to permit access to the interior of the receptacle R.

The center lift cover 14 comprising the other important part of thecombination closet seat and lift cover assembly is best shown in FIGS.2, 4 and 6 to be pivotally secured to the closet seat 12 by the hingepins 17 as previously described. The particular manner of pivotalattachment and the location of the axis of the pivot is not important aslong as the center lift cover will remain upright upon being raised tothe position as shown in FIGS 2 and 6.

As best shown in FIG. 7 the center lift cover includes side edges 66which are parallel to the seat edges 58 when the center lift cover is inthe lowered position. The center lift cover edges also include a bulbouspor- 3 tion 68 in the form of convex extensions to either side of thecenter lift cover. The shape of the center lift cover is sized andproportioned to be complementary to the central opening 60 to completelyand entirely close the central opening.

The upper surface of the center lift cover includes a rear planarportion 70 upon the top surface of tongue 29 that is pivotallysuperposed upon yole 26. This pla nar portion 70 forms a smooth surfacewith the planar rear portion 28 of the seat. The center lift cover uppersurface slopes downwardly in a gentle curvature at 72, in a mannersimilar to the corresponding sloping surface 46 of the seat, towards thecenter of the lift cover 14 forming an essentially planar surface ordepressed surface bottom 74. This upper surface may be referred to asundulating. This bottom 74 is contiguous to the planar surface 48 of thelegs 22 and 24. Forwardly of the depressed surface bottom 74 is anupward sloping surface 76 which again conforms generally to the contourof the forward portions of the depression 44 and which takes on adownward curvature at 78 to conform to the contiguous downwardly slopingsurface 42 on each leg 22 and 24.

It is evident from the depression 44 and the de pressed surface bottom74 and adjacent curvatures that a contoured sitting surface is suppliedfor the user when the center lift cover is in the down position. It ofcourse will be appreciated that the center lift cover also serves thepurpose of blocking the interior of the receptacle from view.

The under surface of the center lift cover 14 is composed of a uniquelumbar supporting surface 80. As is best seen in FIG. 2 and 6, thelumber supporting surface 80 is offset forwardly towards the centralopening from the under surface 82 adjacent the hinge l6 and forms a backrest for the user when the center lift cover is in the raised positionof FIGS. 2 and 6. The lateral extent of the center lift cover betweenthe bulbous edges 68 contributes substantially to the effectiveness ofthe lumber support surface 80.

The extension of the center lift cover to include the downwardly slopingsurface 78 and the leading edge 84 which is coextensive with the edges32 of the legs 22 and 24 permits the user to raise and lower the centerlift cover as desired. When both the seat and the center lift cover arein the lowered position, the under surface 86 of the cover rests on topof the inward protrusions 37 to maintain the cover up from the rim M andalso to avoid undue lever action upon the hinges 16 upon the coversurface 82 striking the yoke 26.

As may be clear from the foregoing description, the combination closetseat and lift cover for use on a receptacle of a water closet provides acontoured sitting area in the closed position in FIG. 3 and unlikeconventional closet seats and covers provides a smooth essentiallycontinuous surface from side to side and front to rear. The samecombination provides, when the center lift cover is raised, a contouredsitting area for the user but importantly, there is a lumbar supportingback rest at 80 which aids to support the lumbar region of the usersback.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be evident that thereare a mumber of changes, adaptations and modifications of the presentinvention which come within the province of those skilled in the art.However, it is intended that all such variations not departing from thespirit of the invention be considered as within the scope thereof aslimited solely by the depended claims.

1 claim:

1. A combination closet seat and lift cover for use on the receptacle ofa closet which comprises: a closet seat having a central openingproviding access to the receptacle of the closet support means formingon each side of said opening the support for the user of the seat, meanssecured to said seat for connection to said closet to permit relativepivotal movement therebetween, a central lift cover pivotally connectedto said closet seat being sized to be complementary to and fit withinsaid opening, and provided with an undulating upper surface forming acentral depression, said center lift cover together with said supportmeans forming an essentially continuous contoured sitting surface whenin the down position 2. The combination closet seat and lift cover ofclaim 1 wherein the closet seat is open at the front and the center liftis coextensive forwardly with said closet seat.

3. The combination closet seat and lift cover of claim 1 wherein thecloset seat is bifurcated to form legs forming said support means and anelongated shape to said central opening.

4. The combination closet seat and lift cover of claim 1 wherein thepivotal means for attaching the closet seat to the closet receptaclecomprises a hinge attached to the rear of the seat.

5. The combination closet seat and lift cover of claim 4 wherein thecombination additionally comprises: bumpers attached to the lowersurface to prevent the seat from resting directly on a rim of the closetreceptacle and on inwardly directed elongated protrusions positionedupon a forward portion of said seat to support said center lift cover.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support means includes a pairof legs, each leg including an upper surface depression contiguous tosaid opening.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said undulating upper surfaceforms a depression corresponding in approximate depth to the depressionon each leg to form said contoured sitting surface.

8. The combination of claim I wherein said center lift cover is providedwith an under surface including an offset portion forming a back restfor the user when in raised position.

9. The combination of claim 7 wherein said center lift cover includes anunder surface of said center lift cover having an offset portion forminga back rest for the USfiI'.

10. The combination of claim I wherein hinge means is provided betweensaid center lift cover and said seat cover to permit said relativepivotal movement.

11. The combination of claim 3 wherein said center lift cover includesan offset under surface.

12. The combination of claim 7 wherein the upper surface depressions oneach leg are mirror images.

13. The.combination of claim 1 wherein the closet seat is open at thefront and the center lift is coextensive forwardly with said closetseat, and the closet seat is bifurcated to form legs forming saidsupport means and an elongated shape to said central opening.

14. The combination of claim I wherein the pivotal means for attachingthe closet seat to the closet receptacle comprises a hinge attached tothe rear of the seat, and the undulating upper surface forms adepression corresponding in approximate depth to the depression on eachleg to form said contoured sitting surface.

15. The combination of claim 1 wherein said center lift cover isprovided with an under surface including an offset portion forming aback rest for the user when in raised position, and the pivotal meansfor attaching the closet seat to the closet receptacle comprises a hingeattached to the rear of the seat.

16. The combination of claim 1 wherein the pivotal means for attachingthe closet seat to the closet receptacle comprises a hinge attached tothe rear of the seat, said undulating upper surface forms a depressioncorresponding in approximate depth to the depression on each leg to formsaid contoured sitting surface, and said center lift cover is providedwith an under surface including an offset portion forming a back restfor the user when in raised position.

17. The combination of claim 1 wherein hinge means is provided betweensaid center lift cover and said seat cover to permit said relativepivotal movement, the pivotal means for attaching the closet seat to thecloset receptacle comprises a hinge attached to the rear of the seat,said undulating upper surface forms a depression corresponding inapproximate depth to the depression on each leg to form said contouredsitting surface, and said center lift cover is provided with an undersurface including an offset portion forming a back rest for the userwhen is raised position.

18. The combination of claim I wherein the pivotal means for attachingthe closet seat to the closet receptacle comprises a hinge attached tothe rear of the seat, hinge means is provided between said center liftcover and said seat cover to permit said relative pivotal movement.

19. The combination of claim 1 wherein said seat is provided with aplanar rear surface.

20. The combination of claim 1 wherein said seat is provided with aplanar portion extending outwardly from each side.

21. The combination of claim 1 wherein said seat is provided with aplanar rear surface, said seat is provided with a planar portionextending outwardly from each side 22. The combination of claim 19wherein said center lift cover includes a tongue and a rear planarportion on the top surface of said tongue.

23. The combination of claim 22 wherein said top surface of said tongueand the planar rear surface of said seat form an essentially continuoussurface partially surrounding said opening when in the down position.

24. The combination of claim 1 wherein said center lift cover includes atongue received for pivotal movement within a yoke formed in said seat.

25. The combination in claim 24 wherein top surface of said tongue isplanar and form a continuous surface when in the down position with thetop of said seat.

26. The combination of claim 22 wherein said seat is provided with aplanar portion extending outwardly from each side.

27. The combination of claim 22 wherein said seat is provided with aplanar portion extending outwardly from each side, said top surface ofsaid tongue and the planar rear surface of said seat form an essentiallycontinuous surface partially surrounding said opening when in the downposition.

1. A combination closet seat and lift cover for use on the receptacle ofa closet which comprises: a closet seat having a central openingproviding access to the receptacle of the closet support means formingon each side of said opening the support for the user of the seat, meanssecured to said seat for connection to said closet to permit relativepivotal movement therebetween, a central lift cover pivotally connectedto said closet seat being sized to be complementary to and fit withinsaid opening, and provided with an undulating upper surface forming acentral depression, said center lift cover together with said supportmeans forming an essentially continuous contoured sitting surface whenin the down position
 2. The combination closet seat and lift cover ofclaim 1 wherein the closet seat is open at the front and thE center liftis coextensive forwardly with said closet seat.
 3. The combinationcloset seat and lift cover of claim 1 wherein the closet seat isbifurcated to form legs forming said support means and an elongatedshape to said central opening.
 4. The combination closet seat and liftcover of claim 1 wherein the pivotal means for attaching the closet seatto the closet receptacle comprises a hinge attached to the rear of theseat.
 5. The combination closet seat and lift cover of claim 4 whereinthe combination additionally comprises: bumpers attached to the lowersurface to prevent the seat from resting directly on a rim of the closetreceptacle and on inwardly directed elongated protrusions positionedupon a forward portion of said seat to support said center lift cover.6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support means includes a pairof legs, each leg including an upper surface depression contiguous tosaid opening.
 7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said undulatingupper surface forms a depression corresponding in approximate depth tothe depression on each leg to form said contoured sitting surface. 8.The combination of claim 1 wherein said center lift cover is providedwith an under surface including an offset portion forming a back restfor the user when in raised position.
 9. The combination of claim 7wherein said center lift cover includes an under surface of said centerlift cover having an offset portion forming a back rest for the user.10. The combination of claim 1 wherein hinge means is provided betweensaid center lift cover and said seat cover to permit said relativepivotal movement.
 11. The combination of claim 3 wherein said centerlift cover includes an offset under surface.
 12. The combination ofclaim 7 wherein the upper surface depressions on each leg are mirrorimages.
 13. The combination of claim 1 wherein the closet seat is openat the front and the center lift is coextensive forwardly with saidcloset seat, and the closet seat is bifurcated to form legs forming saidsupport means and an elongated shape to said central opening.
 14. Thecombination of claim 1 wherein the pivotal means for attaching thecloset seat to the closet receptacle comprises a hinge attached to therear of the seat, and the undulating upper surface forms a depressioncorresponding in approximate depth to the depression on each leg to formsaid contoured sitting surface.
 15. The combination of claim 1 whereinsaid center lift cover is provided with an under surface including anoffset portion forming a back rest for the user when in raised position,and the pivotal means for attaching the closet seat to the closetreceptacle comprises a hinge attached to the rear of the seat.
 16. Thecombination of claim 1 wherein the pivotal means for attaching thecloset seat to the closet receptacle comprises a hinge attached to therear of the seat, said undulating upper surface forms a depressioncorresponding in approximate depth to the depression on each leg to formsaid contoured sitting surface, and said center lift cover is providedwith an under surface including an offset portion forming a back restfor the user when in raised position.
 17. The combination of claim 1wherein hinge means is provided between said center lift cover and saidseat cover to permit said relative pivotal movement, the pivotal meansfor attaching the closet seat to the closet receptacle comprises a hingeattached to the rear of the seat, said undulating upper surface forms adepression corresponding in approximate depth to the depression on eachleg to form said contoured sitting surface, and said center lift coveris provided with an under surface including an offset portion forming aback rest for the user when is raised position.
 18. The combination ofclaim 1 wherein the pivotal means for attaching the closet seat to thecloset receptacle comprises a hinge attached to the rear of the seat,hinge means is provided between said center lift cover And said seatcover to permit said relative pivotal movement.
 19. The combination ofclaim 1 wherein said seat is provided with a planar rear surface. 20.The combination of claim 1 wherein said seat is provided with a planarportion extending outwardly from each side.
 21. The combination of claim1 wherein said seat is provided with a planar rear surface, said seat isprovided with a planar portion extending outwardly from each side. 22.The combination of claim 19 wherein said center lift cover includes atongue and a rear planar portion on the top surface of said tongue. 23.The combination of claim 22 wherein said top surface of said tongue andthe planar rear surface of said seat form an essentially continuoussurface partially surrounding said opening when in the down position.24. The combination of claim 1 wherein said center lift cover includes atongue received for pivotal movement within a yoke formed in said seat.25. The combination in claim 24 wherein top surface of said tongue isplanar and form a continuous surface when in the down position with thetop of said seat.
 26. The combination of claim 22 wherein said seat isprovided with a planar portion extending outwardly from each side. 27.The combination of claim 22 wherein said seat is provided with a planarportion extending outwardly from each side, said top surface of saidtongue and the planar rear surface of said seat form an essentiallycontinuous surface partially surrounding said opening when in the downposition.